On Oct. 29, 2006, Brazilian Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party (PT) won reelection to a second term in office (2007–10). By securing more than 58 million votes—61% of the valid votes cast—he defeated former São Paulo state governor Geraldo Alckmin of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) in a second-round runoff election. Lula not only managed to escape the negative impact of various corruption scandals and congressional inquiries that weakened the PT and the Congress, but he also claimed victory with five million more votes than he had achieved in winning his first term in 2002. His campaign platform stressed economic growth, education, and family grant programs, but Lula’s appeal was based more on his personal charisma and the ameliorating impacts of his administration’s deepening progressive and redistributive social and economic policies.

At a rally on October 29 in downtown São Paulo, with his wife, Marisa, at his side, Luiz …

AP

The year began with the continuation of two congressional parliamentary inquiries (CPIs); one investigated rigged procurement practices within the postal service and the other a monthly payola scheme used by the PT to buy votes in Congress. As these CPIs mounted and occupied Congress, cases were brought against 15 deputies; 4 deputies resigned their seats before proceedings were initiated and thus escaped the prospect of losing their political rights for eight years. By the time the last deputy facing expulsion was absolved by the Chamber of Deputies on December 6, the CPI of the monthly payola scheme had resulted in the expulsion of 3 congressmen and the absolution of 12 others, 6 of whom won reelection to Congress. Two of the four deputies who resigned were also reelected.

In early May a much wider scandal broke that involved the misallocation of public funds in the procurement of ambulances by local municipalities. Dubbed “Operation Bloodsucker” by the federal police working with the Anti-Corruption Office of the Presidency of the Republic, the fraud involved scores of congressmen who were implicated in receiving kickbacks. On June 7 a CPI was launched, which investigated businessman Luiz Antônio Trevisan Vedoin, the mastermind of the scheme. The report, issued by the congressional inquiry on August 10, implicated 69 deputies and 3 senators. On August 15–16, 11 deputies resigned, and the Chamber of Deputies Ethics Council began proceedings against 19 deputies. Federal police carried out a nationwide raid at 200 locations in 8 states and made more than 70 arrests. On August 21, at the behest of Chief Federal Prosecutor Antônio Fernando de Souza, the Supreme Court started investigations of 27 deputies. The scheme was gigantic and involved more than 500 municipalities and dozens of companies. A few days before September 30, the date of the first round of presidential elections, PT associates close to President Lula purchased and leaked to the press a dossier that was meant to implicate PSDB São Paulo gubernatorial candidate José Serra in the scandal. The ensuing fallout over the dossier resulted in a temporary leave of absence for the PT president, Ricardo Berzoini.

Very little of significance was achieved in the Congress, owing to its concentration on corruption scandals. Lula’s economic team suffered a setback on March 27 when Finance Minister Antônio Palocci resigned amid charges that he was involved in illegally obtaining the bank statement of a worker whose CPI testimony was damaging to the government; the action breached the groundskeeper’s fiscal privacy. Palocci was replaced by Guido Mantega, the former president of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development. The Lula administration opened the year with Operation Fill Potholes, an emergency public works project to repair highways. A 16.7% minimum-wage increase that went into effect on April 1 raised the monthly minimum salary to 350 reais (about $160). An ineffectual Congress approved the 2006 federal budget on April 18.

On April 21 Lula proclaimed Brazil’s self-sufficiency in petroleum, led by state-owned enterprise Petrobrás. Notwithstanding the country’s achievement, on May 1 Bolivian Pres. Evo Morales nationalized the petroleum and gas industries in Bolivia. This action threatened the industries in southeastern and southern Brazil that relied on Bolivian natural gas. The president of Petrobrás, José Sérgio Gabrielli de Azevedo, announced that Brazil would contest any expropriations, accept no unilateral price increase, and halt investments in Bolivia. Meanwhile, Petrobrás announced that it would pursue expansion of domestic capacity with new investments in the Santos basin.

On May 10 President Lula appointed Carmen Lucia Antunes Rocha to the Supreme Court to replace Nelson Jobim. Antunes Rocha, who was sworn in on June 21, became the second woman on the Supreme Court. Earlier in the year, Supreme Court Minister Ellen Gracie Northfleet was sworn in to a two-year term as the new president of the Supreme Court, the first woman to occupy the post. Lula also nominated Rio de Janeiro state Supreme Court Justice Enrique Ricardo Lewandowski to the Supreme Court to replace Carlos Velloso, who retired in January.

Protesting prison conditions and the transfer of its leaders to maximum-security installations, the First Capital Command criminal gang launched widespread attacks and prison rebellions against civil and military police in the states of São Paulo and Mato Grosso on May 12–15. The attacks, which were coordinated inside prison walls via cell phones, were repeated in July and August, with new assaults on banks, bus terminals, buses, courthouses, supermarkets, and auto dealerships. The violence paralyzed the nation’s financial capital and most important states and left more than 200 dead, including police, prison guards, civilians, and suspects.

In 2006 the Brazilian economy showed mixed signs. In 2005 the output grew 2.3%, with inflation in check at 6.9%. The benchmark overnight discount rate opened the year 2006 at 18%, but by the end of November the central bank’s Open Market Committee had cut it to 13.25%, the lowest rate since the creation of the Brazilian real. By the end of October, inflation stood at 3.26%. The central bank forecast a GDP growth for 2006 of 2.95%, and the government aimed to achieve 5% GDP growth in 2007.